A special ceremony and concert celebrating the honorees will be held in the spring. Additional details regarding the ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.

"Each year, The Academy has the distinct privilege of honoring those who have greatly contributed to our industry and cultural heritage, and this year we have a gifted and brilliant group of honorees," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy." Their exceptional accomplishments, contributions, and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come."

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing Advisory Council and Chapter Committees, and are ratified by The Academy's Trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.

The 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast live on CBS on Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For breaking GRAMMY news, follow The Recording Academy's social networks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Recording Academy will honor its 2016 Special Merit Awards recipientswith an awards ceremony and live tribute concert on April 23 at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" will be produced in partnership with Thirteen Productions as part of PBS' "Great Performances" series, and is set to air later this year. Led by GRAMMY winner Don Was as musical director, the tribute concert will feature rare performances by some of the honorees and showcase never-before-seen renditions of their songs by artists they've inspired.

Previously held during GRAMMY Week, this is the first time The Recording Academy has celebrated the Special Merit Awards with a stand-alone event and musical tribute. In addition to the concert, special celebrity guests will present recipients with their awards and guests will enjoy video packages celebrating each of the honorees' contributions to the music industry and our cultural heritage.

"For many years now, we've wanted to honor Special Merit Awards recipients on a larger scale with an event like 'GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends,' so I'm delighted to partner with Thirteen Productions and PBS to bring this worthy celebration to a bigger stage," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "The contributions of our honorees are innumerable, and we look forward to an unforgettable evening as we pay tribute to their exceptional accomplishments."

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing Advisory Council and Chapter Committees, and are ratified by The Academy's Trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.

Tickets for "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" will be on sale via Ticketmaster beginning Tuesday, March 29 at 10 a.m. PT.

A key activist in the movement to reform musicians' royalty payments in the 1980s, Ruth Brown helped net a $1.5 million donation from Atlantic Records, which led to the creation of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in 1987.

A three-time GRAMMY winner, Celia Cruz won consecutive awards at the first three Latin GRAMMY Awards, including Best Salsa Performance for Celia Cruz And Friends: A Night Of Salsa at the inaugural Latin GRAMMY telecast in 2000.

Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star" netted the band a couple of firsts. The song earned the band the first of their six GRAMMYs for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus for 1975. It also marked the first and only Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit of their career.

Herbie Hancock's trailblazing 1983 single "Rockit" is considered one of the first songs to feature "scratching," or sounds being manipulated using a turntable to the beat. The GRAMMY-winning song has been featured on TV ("30 Rock") and in film (Zoolander) and video games ("Grand Theft Auto: Vice City").

Jefferson Airplane's classic "White Rabbit" (GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, 1998) was penned by frontwoman Grace Slick. The song has been covered by two GRAMMY winners: George Benson, who interpreted it on his 1971 solo album titled White Rabbit, and Pink, who covered it for the 2016 film Alice Through The Looking Glass.

Run DMC werethe sole hip-hop act to perform at 1985's historic Live Aid concert, which featured performances by U2, David Bowie, Madonna, and Paul McCartney, among others.

In 1952 John Cage introduced "4'33"," a piece featuring four minutes and 33 seconds during which the performers do not play their instruments. The resulting sounds of the environment that the listeners hear are designed to be the "music."

Fred Foster is credited as a co-writer with Kris Kristofferson on "Me And Bobby McGee." The classic 1971 single by Janis Joplin was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2002.

The first recording released on Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie Records label was Mance Lipscomb's 1960 album, Texas Sharecropper And Songster. A total of 250 copies were initially pressed.

Germany-based company EMT made a breakthrough in audio technology in 1957 with the release of the EMT 140 plate reverb, which utilized a resonating metal plate to create ambience.

In 1949 Dr. Harvey Fletcher became the second person elected an honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, following fellow Technical GRAMMY Award recipient Thomas A. Edison.

\"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends\" To Air Oct. 14

In collaboration with PBS' "Great Performances" series, The Recording Academy will air "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" — a special all-star concert honoring The Recording Academy's 2016 Special Merit Awards recipients — on Oct. 14 from 9–11:30 p.m. ET/PT on PBS.

Among numerous highlights, psychedelic rock pioneers Jefferson Airplane take fans back in time as they play some of their most memorable hits that shaped much of the San Francisco scene in the 1960s and earned them international mainstream success. Standing in for legendary frontwoman Grace Slick (who is present to accept her award) is GRAMMY-nominated rock songstress Cathy Richardson.

Arhoolie Records founder Strachwitz has made a living recording, preserving, and celebrating the music he loves — music that formed the fabric of both American and international culture. Paying homage to the multifaceted and uniquely talented producer/businessman will be six-time GRAMMY-winning guitar virtuoso Cooder, GRAMMY-nominated Chicago bluesman Gray and GRAMMY nominees the Magnolia Sisters.

Paying tribute to three-time GRAMMY winner and four-time Latin GRAMMY winner Celia Cruz — internationally known as the Queen of Salsa — are Latin GRAMMY nominee Lucrecia and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner García, who will bring his Cuban musical group, Andy García And The CineSon All Stars, to the stage.

A salute to 10-time GRAMMY winner Linda Ronstadt features pop, country and Latin musical offerings from GRAMMY and four-time Latin GRAMMY winner Downs and GRAMMY nominees McBride and Souther.

A production of Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET, "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" is written by David Wild and directed for television by David Horn, with Mitch Owgang as producer, and Horn and Neil Portnow as executive producers. Was is music director. For "Great Performances," Bill O'Donnell is series producer; Horn is executive producer.

Technical GRAMMY Award recipients this year are Tony Agnello and Richard Factor, whose company Eventide made an enormous contribution to the craft. This year's recipient of the Music Educator Award is Melissa Salguero.

Check your local listings for the PBS station near you, tonight at 9p.m. "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" will later be available at PBS Great Performances online. This is an array of legends honoring legends who represent the finest in music excellence.

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